Bicycles

Painting at my moms

After we left Belgium, we took the train to Amsterdam.

Rosalie Ann with her paraphenalia in RR station in Europe

Railroad station

Train approaching

hundreds of small gardens from the train

windmill near Amsterdam

Mint Tower - 1950 - Amsterdam

Horse drawn carriage

My mother was particularly impressed by the number of bicycles and the cars with turn signals that flipped up so that you didn't have to stick your arm out the window like you still did in the USA. We met with some Dutch Girl Guides. My mother arranged for us to meet girls our age who were Scouts/Guides all over Europe.

Girl Guides with my sister and me

Girl Guides

Girl Guides

Some years later, my sister's Girl Scout troup went to Europe. My father also met (not pre-arranged) his friend Ed Spear and family.

Speers family - June 23, 1950

Spear family

Ed Spear - 1950 Amsterdam

Horse and carriage

We took a day trip to Marken and Volendam. Marken was a fishing village,

Marken horse and rider

and we bought some wooden shoes there.

Wedding shoes

Marken carved into a wooden shoe

Inside the heel

and at that time, the people in Volendam still wore their original Dutch clothing.

National Dress

My dad took movies of the children running around in their wooden shoes, and of the wooden shoes outside the doorways of the houses. I put it on YouTube - the whole of the Netherlands movies takes about 15 minutes to view

Netherlands 1950

My sister and I in 1950

We also visited the cheese market at Alkmaar.

Weighing house -Kaasmuseum - Alkmaar

carrying the cheeses - Alkmaar

The cheese market was where the cheese was inspected and weighed. My dad took movies of the bouncing cheeses and the men who carried the heavy sledges of cheese to be weighed and inspected.